Spaghetti Sauce

1/2 lb bacon chopped
2 1/2 lbs. ground beef
2 c. finely chopped onions
1 c. finely chopped green pepper
6 garlic cloves, finely chopped
3 (2 lb 3 oz) cans Italian plum tomatoes
3 (6 oz) cans tomato paste
1 1/2 c. dry red wine (optional)
5 t. oregano
5 t. basil
1 1/2 c. water
1/2 c. chopped parsley (fresh)
2 t. thyme
1 bay leaf, crumbled
2 T. salt
freshly ground pepper

Fry bacon until crisp in a wide six quart sauce pot. Remove bacon and all except 2 T. of fat. Save both bacon and extra fat. Add ground beef, breaking it up with a spoon, and cook until brown, stirring occasionally. Stir in onion, green pepper and garlic and cook 10 minutes. Add more bacon fat if needed. Mash plum tomatoes with a spoon. Stir the tomatoes and tomato paste, bacon, one cup of wine (optional) 4 t. each of oregano and basil and all remaining ingredients into the sauce, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 3 hours, stirring occasionally.

Taste after and hour of cooking and correct the seasoning, herbs vary and so do personal tastes. If you make the sauce early, cool and refrigerate it until an hour or two before dinner. Let it warm to room temperature before you reheat it. 10-15 minutes before serving, blend in one teaspoon each of oregano and basil and 1/2 cup wine, if you wish. Serve sauce in a tureen and let everyone ladle it out onto plates of spaghetti. Be sure to provide plenty of grated Parmesan cheese to sprinkle on top.

Part of the success of a sauce depends on what is underneath it. The spaghetti should be cooked al dente, just on the chewy side, which means boiling it 8-10 minutes - drained well and eaten while it is piping hot. Figure 3 lbs. of noodles for 12 people and cook it in plenty of rapidly boiling water. you will Need 2 enormous pots, the 10 qt size if you can get them. One handy trick when you're trying to get a lot of pasta into pots quickly is to float a spoonful of oil in the water. When you stir in the spaghetti the oil will help keep the strands from cooling - cooking in clumps and stop the water from boiling over. "Spaghetti" comes in many sizes, from fine vermicelli to wide linguine, but the thinner the the pasta the easier it is to twist around a fork.